Time flew too fast, 4 days in the Philippines is definitely not enough. There are just so many things I want to do, I could do. Very tempted to fly back there again, immediately. Ha.
But anyway, this time round, it was a different kind of fun, because I was like a Singaporean working as a tour guide in the Philippines. :)
Right after we landed in Manila at 5am, we went to the hotel, had breakfast at the nearby MacDonalds and to tap on the free wifi, to plan our itinerary.
We were glad that we went to the Legazpi Sunday Market nearby. It was so colourful and there were so many interesting stuff there.
From accessories..
To handphone covers..
To toys..
To interesting stuff like paperweight..
To food..
Love how the photos turn out. :)
We had lunch at Dampa, and they were amazed by the cheap and good seafood there. You buy your seafood from the market, and bring it to the restaurant nearby and ask them to cook it the way you want it to. I hardly get disappointed whenever I get to eat there. :)
Thanks to Imee, we had a free tour around Fort Santiago, a defense fortress in the old city of Intramuros. The guide was an interesting fella, though there were quite a few times I couldn't catch what he was saying. Too deep. Ha. At least now I know more about the Philippines' history, and gained some insight while going around the Prison House of the Philippine hero Jose Rizal.
But I think we were more concerned about our wet feet after walking through the tour in the rain.
Our itinerary for the second day was to trek up the Taal Volcano Island. My Ate (sister) Shelyn was very nice, she accompanied us there and hired a driver for the journey. It was about 1.5hr drive from Manila to Tagaytay, where we took the bangka across the lake to the Taal Volcano Island.
When we reached there, overly-friendly guides and horses were waiting for us, hoping we would pay them for the horses to bring us up to the top of the volcano. We decided from the start that we would trek up, since we were already in proper shoes. But they still followed us, trying to convince us to take the horses because we looked like 'we couldn't make it'. Of course, they gave up when we were halfway up the volcano. Haha.
Even if it was physically exhausting to trek up under the hot sun, I am glad we chose to walk, to enjoy the beautiful scenery that greeted us along the way.
Other tourists must be thinking, these people must be mad, not to take the horses. Haha.
It took us around 1 hour to reach the top, and the view was gorgeous. A crater lake in a volcano within a lake. :)
We stayed up there for around 15 minutes, and it took us just 20 minutes to get back to the foot of the volcano. The power of gravity. Haha.
Lunch was exceptionally satisfying after the climb. The pinoy food wasn't bad, anyway. :)
We went on to Sonja's Garden, everything's pretty with the plants and whatever.
We even had a competition among the smartphones, to see which is smarter in taking photos. The result? iPhone won. :)
While traveling back to Manila, they went crazy over the outlet shops at Greenfields.
Dinner was at Via Mare in Greenbelt. Love the bangus (stuff milkfish) and the eggplant with eggs.
I realised I had lots of coffee in Manila, not just because it's cheaper, there are more cafes, more choices. :)
The next 2 days were mainly about shopping. We became the shopping queens and king at SM Mall of Asia, and I've instantly brushed up on my Tagalog while bargaining at the Divisoria 168 Mall.
Ate Shel treated us to dinner at Barbara's, which came with a cultural performance too. Dancers performed various traditional Filipino dances to the tunes of the rondalla.
Yup, before we could say 'hello', it was time to say 'goodbye'. I didn't even get to shop in my favourite Glorietta and Greenbelt! I guess I still miss the moments of travelling alone, but I don't mind having the company too. :) At least there were more fun and laughter, when they were not performing their SOP, i.e. sleeping in the car. Haha.
I really, really can't wait to be back in the Philippines again. Shucks, my compulsive air-ticket-purchasing disorder is acting up again.
